Isolation. Self-exploration. Acceptance. Family. Love.
Expect to see all of the above during Profile
Theatre's 2014 season, which focuses on prolific American playwright Sam Shepard.

Profile artistic director Adrianna Baer says the selection
of Shepard was a no-brainer for the company, which builds each season around the work of a single writer.

"The language he uses to place his characters in
geographic space really resonates well with us in the Pacific Northwest," Baer says. "He writes very much in the way that is in touch with the earth and in
the environment."

Shepard, who earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for "Buried Child," is also known for his dark, often horrific, portrayal of
American life. His style has created a fervent following, as well as a fair
share of detractors. Some Profile supporters were concerned about presenting an entire season
of his work, but Baer shrugged it off. "I'm willing to take a risk to share
that with my patrons because I believe in Sam's writing and I believe in the
power of his language," she says.

Still, she didn't want to start off with a piece as heavy as "Buried Child" (which will be the second show of the
season). Instead the theater will ease audiences into his work with "Eyes
For Consuela," which follows an American man as he leaves the country, seeking a life-affirming
adventure south of the border.

Sam Shepard poses for a portrait in New York on Thursday, Sept, 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)The Associated Press

The 1999 play focuses on distress, violence and anger -- not
foreign themes for Shepard. Henry, the main character, trades his predictable life
in Michigan for the unexpected in a remote part of Mexico. An ominous one-eyed
innkeeper warns him not to wander, but the desperate American traipses through
the jungle anyway, running into a terrifying local who threatens to cut out
Henry's eyes.

Henry's journey leads him down a treacherous road that allows him to see that, hey,
maybe things weren't so bad after all, Baer points out. It reinforces the notion of the silver
lining, but it does so through a violent lens.

"Consuela," like most of Shepard's work, delivers a very real emotional
lesson, with a message that can be hard to swallow — call it tough love. None of us are immune to weakness and fear, and many of us
have fallen to great depths to find our true selves, but we don't often like addressing
that darker side of self-exploration.

"Yes there's a bit of violence, yes there's a bit of anger,
but I also think there's a lot of beauty and a lot of heart in this play," Baer says.

Profile's season will end with another stark work by
Shepard, "Kicking a Dead Horse." The one-man show highlights the tribulations of a
man whose horse dies in the middle of the desert (the stage notes request a
real dead horse, if possible). Shepard uses dark humor to once again underscore
the search for purpose as he pushes his character to the brink of insanity.

Some worries about filling all those seats might be unfounded -- opening night is already sold out. And Baer thinks the themes of
Shepard's plays will find a welcome home in Portland, hopefully making the 2014
season Profile's most successful to date.

"What you have is a writer who is really
relevant across many generations of Americans," she said. "And he's just a
great badass kind of person."